Rulings

IPEA may give rulings to determine whether a parliamentarian has breached certain provisions of the Parliamentary Business Resources Act 2017 (PBR Act).

If a parliamentarian is found by IPEA to have breached one or more of these provisions, they will be required to reimburse the Commonwealth and may be liable to pay a 25% loading as a penalty.

When giving rulings, IPEA considers any personal advice the parliamentarian received from IPEA to determine whether that advice was correct.

A parliamentarian is able to apply for a ruling from IPEA using the Application for ruling form.

Applications for a ruling can only occur after the expense has been incurred or claimed, not before.

IPEA has the power to give a ruling on its own initiative.

The legislation

Rulings may be given by IPEA under section 37 of the PBR Act to determine that:

• a parliamentarian’s travel expenses were or were not incurred for the dominant purpose of conducting the parliamentarian's parliamentary business (section 26 of the PBR Act)
• a parliamentarian’s travel allowance was or was not claimed for the dominant purpose of conducting the parliamentary business (section 26 of the PBR Act)
• a parliamentarian’s incurring of travel expenses, or claiming of travel allowance, did or did not provide value for money (section 27 of the PBR Act)
• particular conduct of a parliamentarian or other person (for example a spouse or dependent child) did or did not breach a condition relating to the provision of travel expenses or travel allowances (section 28 of the  PBR Act); or
• if IPEA provided the parliamentarian with personal advice under section 12(1)(a) of the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority Act 2017, that the personal advice was or was not correct (section 37(2)(e) of the PBR Act).

More information

• For travel related queries or advice, please contact IPEA on (02) 6215 3000 or by email to enquiries@ipea.gov.au.
• For queries or advice on all non-travel related work expense matters, please contact Ministerial and Parliamentary Services on (02) 6215 3333 or by email to mpshelp@finance.gov.au.